Commonly assigned copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/788,613 (which corresponds to PCT/US97/01165, published as WO97/27546, but only after the priority date of the present application) discloses a method and apparatus for transmitting addressable messages over a wireless paging network to a receiver connected to the recipient's personal computing device. Upon receipt of the information, the user is alerted by an appropriate visual and/or audible display that there is an incoming message, to which the user is invited to respond, typically by automatically launching an Internet browser, establishing a connection to the Internet, and connecting to a home page or other interactive Internet site identified by a URL embedded in the received message, thereby providing a convenient automated connection back to the information source for obtaining detailed data and/or participating in a designated interactive activity.
However, prior to the present invention, there were no known facilities for a user connected to an on-line communication network such as the Internet to conveniently and automatically invite another user to participate in an interactive Internet activity (such as a game, a chat room, a two-way conversation, or an on-line conference) unless that other user currently had an active on-line connection to that network. This problem was exacerbated if the other user was known only by his online "persona," thereby making it impossible to contact him by telephone, fax or other conventional means.